The first week of Unrivaled has officially concluded, and Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston and her team, the Vinyl, have established themselves as one of the top teams in the league early on.
The Vinyl defeated the Phantom 84-71 Monday night, a stellar team performance for Boston's squad. Boston officially has bragging rights over both of her Fever teammates, defeating Lexie Hull and the Rose Basketball Club on Friday and defeating Katie Lou Samuelson's Phantom in this latest matchup.
The contest was a back-and-forth affair from the jump. The Phantom, coming off of a 38-point loss on Saturday, stuck around despite great performances from Vinyl's Arike Ogunbowale and Dearica Hamby. The Vinyl, however, ended the first half with an 11-point lead and never looked back.
Boston put in a solid 10 minutes, improving on her first performance with the club. She recorded 11 points and seven rebounds, being utilized heavily in the pick and roll. She held her own with the Phantom's Brittney Griner, exactly what Fever fans wanted to see heading into the 2025 WNBA season. Aside from getting beat a few times in the post, which is common for just about anyone tasked with guarding Griner, Boston played exceptionally well.
On the flip side, Katie Lou Samuelson made a much bigger impact for the Phantom her second time out. In just five minutes played the entire night, Samuelson dropped 11 points, grabbed three boards, and found Sabrina Ionescu for an assist. She played good defense, came off of screens well, and shot an efficient 55% from the field-- putting her in line for some more minutes next game.
Had the Phantom's newly-signed Natisha Heideman not played a key role in the offense as a distributor off the bench, Samuelson might have gotten those minutes Monday. Heideman was signed as a relief player for the injured Marina Mabrey, who will be reevaluated for a calf strain in two weeks.
The Vinyl have made a strong case for being considered as the team's top squad, rivaling the Lunar Owls and Laces as the three undefeated teams two games in.